


License

by orphan_account



Category: Firefly, Serenity (2005)
Genre: Forced Marriage, M/M, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-02-07
Updated: 2009-02-07
Packaged: 2017-10-02 05:24:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a backwater planet, custom dictates they have to marry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	License

“I must insist,” the man behind the desk said. “Otherwise, it would be an abomination.”

Mal sighed. _Like hell there’s only one hotel room left in this entire gorramn settlement_, he thought, _even if it’s so small the town Patron’s gotta double as the hotel clerk. _

“We can include the cost of the marriage license in your bill,” the Patron/clerk added helpfully. “And off-planet waves are two credits each.”

_Just a scam to take advantage of the out-of-towners, no doubt_, Mal thought, _but there’s no sense makin’ a fuss. Need to keep a low profile, after all. _

Up in the room, Mal was so keenly focused on going through his bag, taking care of preparations for the next day, and then flipping, zombie-like, through the channels on the CorVue that it took him several minutes to register that Jayne was staring at him intently, arms crossed, eyes narrowed with increasing agitation.

“Hey,” Jayne said indignantly, “I know my rights.”

After the couple minutes it took to put together what the gorramn hell Jayne meant by **that**, Mal sighed.

_Just a scam to take advantage of the captain_, _no doubt,_ he thought, _but there’s no sense makin’ a fuss. Need to keep a low profile, after all. _

Not much later, Mal could already see a bead of sweat sliding enticingly down Jayne’s sculpted form. The merc was substantial in all the right places, flat in all the others, and each set of ridges and planes was accented with just the right amount of smooth, dark hair.

_This isn’t how I ever pictured it_, Mal thought, staring up at a water stain on the ceiling that moved back and forth as he was jostled. He wasn’t sure if he meant “matrimony” or “bedding Jayne”. But it couldn’t be argued that all of Jayne’s intelligence wasn’t of the kinetic variety, or that his tracker’s patience and sharpshooter precision didn’t translate surprisingly well.

By the time Mal convinced him that turnabout was fair play and he’d had his own turn balancing carefully, gripping the chipped white metal headboard—the way it squeaked in protest was oddly satisfying, it made him feel strong and virile—and Jayne was sleeping like the dead beside him, Mal reckoned that was one of the better fifteen credits he’d spent in his life.

* * * *

They got the job done, and with less bloodshed than usual for once. It didn’t make those first few moments back on the ship alone any less awkward, though.

“So,” Mal said, not meeting his merc’s eyes.

“Yup,” Jayne said. He’d suddenly felt a pressing need to closely examine his weapon.

“The license is valid in this entire quadrant,” Mal offered, hoping that was obvious enough. He knew that if he offered to show Jayne his guns, Jayne would probably want to look at his guns.

“Dunno, Mal—hope I didn’t give ya the wrong idea back there. I ain’t one t’settle down—

“Yeah, me neither,” Mal added a little too hastily. He was surprised how disappointed he felt. He knew full well it wasn’t going to be long before one or the other of them asked, “what’s it say in there about divorce?”, but it didn’t make the prospect of heading back to his bunk without Jayne any more pleasant.

Jayne didn’t seem to be leaving though.

“How much longer we gonna be in this quadrant?”

“‘Bout three days,” Mal answered. “Two weeks ‘til we’re back in these parts again.”

“Sounds ‘bout right.”

Mal agreed.


End file.
